In his return to the pitching mound for Sulphur High, Jake Brown helped the Tors return to the big stage of the Class 5A state championship tournament.

Now Brown has reached the biggest stage on his own after being selected to the USA 18-and-under national baseball team, which begins play today in the World Cup tournament in Sarasota, Florida.

Brown, a left-handed pitcher/outfielder, recovered from elbow surgery to help the Tors reach the Class 5A semifinals this past season, going 8-3 with a 1.73 ERA and 131 strikeouts in 73 innings pitched. At the plate, he hit .477 with two home runs, 28 RBIs and 40 runs scored. He was named District 3-5A MVP.

With Team USA, Brown says he will be used primarily as a pitcher, though he did get an RBI single in the most recent exhibition game against Australia. Brown has started one exhibition game, allowing one earned run in three innings with three strikeouts.

Brown was selected for the final roster from a group of 44 players who were invited to a five-day camp in Fort Myers, Florida, last week. Brown earned a spot in the camp after an outstanding performance at the Prospect Development Pipeline League in North Carolina earlier this summer. The league is designed for the dual purpose of showcasing top draft prospects and serving as a tryout camp for USA Baseball. One hundred players were selected for the PDP league.

“I went out, threw the first game at the tryout camp and did not give up any runs,” Brown said. “I threw really well and felt like that gave me a big advantage for making the team.”

Brown said he is looking forward to seeing different approaches to the game at the tournament.

“I want to see how different it is, how guys from different countries go about the fundamentals of the game, what type of energy they bring, what’s different from country to country,” he said.

Wearing a USA jersey has special meaning to Brown.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “My grandpa (Hubie “Butch” Brown, a Vietnam veteran) served in the Navy, so I feel this is my opportunity to honor him by playing for my country.”

Brown said he is hopeful of playing the other pre-tournament favorite.

“Japan is always the competition, the team to beat besides us,” he said. “Hopefully we can beat them on our home turf and win a gold medal.”

Brown said he has enjoyed competing with the other top players in the country.

“It puts me in a perspective that I can see how good I am,” he said. “I see that I am going against the best of the best and know that I have to be at my best.”

Head coach for Team USA is former major league player Denny Hocking. The staff features former professional and college stars.

“The biggest thing I’ve learned from them has not been mechanical but mental,” Brown said. “Just how to look at the game, how to slow the game down in your mind when it gets fast on the field,” he said.

Brown said the time rehabilitating his arm after surgery helped him improve his mental game.

“The first time I threw after the injury, I felt I was all the way back physically,” he said. “The time off gave me time to mature more, work out and be better than I was before I got hurt.

“My mental approach has been different. I have been able to sit back, look at the game from a different perspective and learn about it. Taking the time to watch pitchers from the outfield changed the way I think on the mound.”